EU hopes to adopt military aid to Ukraine from frozen Russian assets on Monday

The 27 work to lift Hungary’s blockade on other measures to support kyiv and will discuss how to respond to crises in Georgia

BRUSSELS, June 21 () –

The foreign ministers of the European Union hope to adopt this Monday military aid to Ukraine from the income generated by frozen Russian assets, in such a way that most of the first 1.5 billion euros promised for the month of July will be integrated to the European Peace Mechanism and dedicate itself to purchasing ammunition and anti-aircraft defenses for kyiv.

The meeting of European Foreign Ministers on Monday in Luxembourg will once again be marked by Hungary’s blockade of various military aid initiatives for Ukraine, although it has cleared obstacles on other issues such as accession to the bloc or the latest round of sanctions. In this context, community partners expect a positive announcement about allocating a large part of these funds, around 90%, to the instrument with which the EU has sent war material to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022.

“These funds come from the interest on frozen assets and will be used to buy ammunition and anti-aircraft defenses and go directly to the military industry. Decision-making is different, which is why no one can block it, there are different circumstances,” a senior official stressed. of the EU on the adoption of this aid and Hungary’s shadow on the different channels of aid to kyiv.

Diplomatic sources expect “constructive and silent abstentions” and hope that Monday’s meeting will serve to successfully conclude the agreement reached at the level of the 27 to allocate these funds to help Ukraine militarily. “All the important issues have been resolved, more or less. So I hope we are clear about where we are with this help,” say other sources optimistic about having an agreement on Monday.

In Brussels they consider that the aid from the frozen Russian assets will be more direct than the usual method by which the 27 send military material to Ukraine and then wait for reimbursement through the European Peace Mechanism, an option that has been blocked for some time. months precisely because of the Budapest veto. “We continue working to solve this and we hope that at the leaders’ summit they can resolve it,” indicated the senior European official.

BLOCKAGE ON ANOTHER AID TO UKRAINE

The Magyar government is also holding up the €5 billion allocation with which the EU wants to ensure long-term military aid to Ukraine, although this does not delay the supply of weapons but rather makes it difficult for Member States to receive reimbursement for this aid. .

With the shadow cast by Hungary’s systematic blockade of the different aid fronts for Ukraine, the 27 face a week that will culminate in a European summit in which the Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, will probably monopolize all the spotlights. Thus, different sources indicate that to unblock the situation there may be a “some type of greater agreement” and resolve these issues within the framework of the summit, one day before Hungary takes the reins of the Council for the next six months.

“It is a decision of the prime minister, we will see what he does, but if he continues to block assistance to Ukraine there is the possibility seen with the legal services of moving forward by qualified majority,” other diplomatic sources have indicated, although this option would be a last-ditch scenario. recourse since the EU has to work with legal solutions.

There is also no way out of the crisis like in NATO, where the Atlantic Alliance has allowed Budapest to refrain from military and financial support initiatives for Ukraine in exchange for not blocking these decisions. “The EU is a completely different animal and NATO is an alliance with other legal obligations, we do not believe that this is the solution within the EU,” said the senior official.

RESPONSE TO THE CRISIS IN GEORGIA

Another issue that the bloc’s foreign ministers will have on the table is the response to the crisis generated in Georgia by the approval of the law on foreign agents, with which the Tbilisi government limits the activity of NGOs and media and which It is reminiscent of the regulations with which Russia marks critics against the Government.

After multiple warnings from the EU that this step is in line with Georgia’s community aspirations, the 27 will study an options document issued by the EU External Action Service that proposes everything from sanctions to reviewing the visa policy. “You have to make sure that (the ruling party) Georgian Dream gets the message, and at the same time make sure that the pro-European population does not suffer the consequences of the measures we may take,” explains a diplomatic source.

Thus, within the EU there is a consensus that it is necessary to react but while some Nordic and Baltic partners ask for tougher measures such as vetoing high-level meetings, others such as Germany, Spain or the Netherlands insist that the response has must be balanced and not damage the great social support for EU membership.

Other sources insist that at this moment the EU must focus on communicating to Tbilisi that the country is drifting away from the EU and wait for the elections in October in which it will be seen whether the Georgian people choose the path towards EU or for closer relations with Russia. “That is what is at stake, that is why we do not want to cancel visas or impose sanctions,” explains a diplomat from the countries in the majority position.